


Would It Have Killed You to Call

by Melpomene21



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 09:38:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13385112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melpomene21/pseuds/Melpomene21
Summary: Mass Effect Kink Meme submission:  Jane Shepard / Hannah Shepard / ME2 FluffCommander Shepard's mother decides she requires proof positive that her daughter is indeed alive and accompanies Admiral Hackett to visit the Normandy after the events from Arrival.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a few things for the Mass Effect Kink Meme a few years ago. Posting them here so that I might work on them again.

“Are you Cerberus?”

Garrus looked down at the woman standing next to him. She was with Admiral Hackett’s Alliance entourage. “No, ma’am,” he said respectfully. “I’m on Commander Shepard’s team.”

The woman looked back to the window of the medbay, fogged out for privacy’s sake, but both onlookers knew that Commander Shepard and Admiral Hackett were on the other side of that glass. “I’m glad to hear that there’s some discernible difference between the two,” she replied, before looking back up to him and asking, “Vakarian, right? You were with her on the Citadel?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Garrus said again.

He was in no mood to entertain anyone at the moment but he did his best to keep a civil tongue. His blood was on fire but by outward appearances he hoped he was looking at least somewhat calm and collected. Shepard had gone on a mission alone, bad enough in and of itself, but she had remained gone - dark, for two days while the entire ship tore each other part with questions and accusations.

Then Shepard had called for a hot pickup and she was back, battered, bruised and in no mood to answer any questions. Miranda had been the only one outwardly relieved to see Hackett and his men show up right on her heels because that at least took the heat off of her that Shepard had been on some illicit Cerberus mission that the XO had refused to tell anyone about. All Garrus cared about was that she was back and as soon as she was healed and allowed him to speak to her, he was ready to give her a piece of his mind.

“I recognized you,” the woman continued speaking. “From the vids…afterwards.”

“Right,” Garrus replied while his eyes remained transfixed on the foggy glass. He was angry at the woman on the other side of it. Angry at her for leaving without backup. Angry at her for coming back in the shape she had been in with the only explanation for her silence that she had been ‘knocked out’ for two days. Knocked out?! The turian felt like knocking someone out, the entire galaxy if he had to. He knew that she was a soldier and fully capable of handling herself, knew that it was inherent in her job description to put her life on the line day in and day out, but that didn’t give her any excuse to…

Garrus curled his taloned fingers up into themselves and tried to rein his emotions in. He had sat back and said nothing when she had left with only Kasumi for backup and that piece of fabric she called an outfit, but this was too much. He wanted to put his foot down over this one. But he recognized that this was dangerous territory and he would have to negotiate it carefully. He had no real rights to question her about her actions. The person who apparently had all the rights was in that room with her. And just because she had agreed to blow off steam with him, well, he didn’t really know what kind of rights that gave him either. In fact, he was a little worried about how pissed off he was. It spoke a little too much about things that he really didn’t want to think about. Things that went well beyond merely blowing off steam.

“You care for her,” the woman said softly.

Garrus turned at her words and looked at her head-on for the first time since their odd conversation had begun. It had caught him off guard to hear his feelings voiced so plainly as he thought of them so secretly. There was something about this woman that made him stand taller and take notice. She held herself in a way that was familiar to him and her eyes were…

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” Garrus replied.

The woman smiled, as if once again reading his mind. She stuck her hand out, grasping Garrus’ firmly as she said, “Hannah Shepard, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Shep-Shepard?” Garrus tripped over the word, his mandibles flaring and his sub vocals tweeting embarrassingly.

“Jane’s mother, yes,” she said with a warm smile. “You’ve been with her for quite a while, haven’t you? Part of her team?”

“Yes, yes ma’am,” he stumbled, trying to clear his voice with a sophisticated cough that only came off sounding like a chirp.

“So…” It was Hannah’s turn to look slightly embarrassed as her words trailed off a bit. “It’s…it is really her?”

Garrus didn’t answer right away, he pulled his mandibles in tight and gave Shepard’s mother a level look that he hoped conveyed his conviction. “Yes, ma’am,” he answered, in his best officer’s voice.

“It was really too much for me to hope for,” she said, looking back to the med bay and placing her hand over her mouth just briefly. “I wouldn’t put it past old Hackett to hang her tags around anyone who would hold a gun and do his bidding,” she said, with a hint of teasing in her voice. “And Cerberus,” she added, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Well, I just had to see for myself.”

“I understand, ma’am. It took everyone varying degrees to absorb her…uh…resurrection.”

“That’s a good word for it, isn’t it?” Hannah said, laughing a bit.

Garrus’ mandibles flared of their own volition. He liked the sound of her laugh and for a brief moment the uncanny resemblance between daughter and mother was razor sharp. There were the same little lines that crinkled at the edges of her bright green eyes. The same small indentations at the edges of her mouth when she smiled. Shepard, he told himself, definitely did not laugh enough. 

“Vakarian,” Hannah said to him, staring at him as if pulling back on her memories of previous conversations with her daughter. “She talked about you. Respected you. Was glad to have you on her team.”

“Thank you,” Garrus said, his chest puffing up a little under the compliment and then he felt his neck heat up as he found that he was unable to return the compliment in kind. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and stumbled, “I’m afraid, I…uh-.”

“Janie’s never said a word about me, has she?”

“Um, no, ma’am,” Garrus replied honestly. “ _Janie_ ,” he said, trying out that word on his alien tongue and deciding that he really, really liked the way that it sounded, “Commander Shepard, that is, she’s very busy-”

“You don’t have to cover up for her,” Hannah interrupted. “I actually take that as a compliment. She usually only talks about the people that she’s really mad at. Believe me, I wouldn’t want to occupy as much time as that Udina does in her conversations.”

“Or Saren, back in the day,” Garrus joined in easily. “And of course…”

“The Reapers,” the pair said in unison and then shared a laugh.

Garrus looked over and saw Admiral Hackett hanging out of the medbay door giving a waving over gesture. “Uh, I think they’re ready for you, ma’am,” he said, pointing over to the medbay just in time to see Shepard’s face come around from behind Hackett and light up in recognition of her unexpected guest.

Hannah took a second to look up to Garrus, placing a cool hand on his forearm as she said, “I’m glad you’re here for my daughter, Officer Vakarian.”

Before Garrus could respond, Hannah Shepard’s head turned at the very un-Shepard-like voice that called out, “Mom!”

Hannah Shepard lifted her hand off of Garrus’ arm and gracefully moved across the room toward her approaching daughter. When the pair met in a tight hug filled with muffled words and sniffles, Garrus suddenly felt his neck go warm again; it felt as if he was intruding on a very private moment and for all intents and purposes, he was. But he just couldn’t tear his eyes away. He had never seen Shepard look like that before, encircled in the arms of another being and letting all her guards and shields down.

She looked up and her eyes flickered toward him for a moment as she wiped at them. Was she crying? He couldn’t be sure because she quickly turned away and led her mother back into the privacy of the medbay. Something inside of Garrus’ chest constricted. This was all unchartered territory for him, for him and the commander specifically. From saying her first name, a familial nickname at that, meeting her mother, seeing her cry. It was all so personal. But wasn’t blowing off steam about as personal as one could get with another person? And they had already agreed to that.

A wave of warmth flushed through Garrus’ entire body. She would be letting her shields down, her guards down with him. The thought was both very exhilarating and terrifying as hell. He tried to tell himself that it was just sex and nothing more but he knew that he was lying, it was more – at least to _him_. It would be more to him. He still wanted to do it, even if she didn’t feel exactly the same. Garrus looked back at the cloudy window of the medbay and imagined Jane Shepard on the other side of it. Not the soldier, not his comrade or commanding officer, but the woman beneath it all. He made a note to tell her, to make sure she knew that he was more than just interested, that he was…all in.


	2. Chapter 2

“What are you doing here?” Shepard asked. She couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that her mother was standing right in front of her. That entire unfortunate mission and painful conversation with Hackett just seeped out of her for a moment as she let herself sink into her mother’s arms.

“I had to see you for myself,” Hannah replied non-apologetically, sounding just like the woman that a young Commander Shepard had grown up admiring. Her mother brought their long embrace to an end as she pushed away from her daughter, grabbing her by the arms and asking, “Would it’ve killed you to call me?”

“I’m sorry,” Jane said, meaning it. But then she fumbled with the right words to explain her behavior.

“It’s okay,” Hannah Shepard whispered, letting her daughter off of the hook. It seemed that she only wanted to ask the question without really desiring a full answer. “There were many a birthday that your father and I missed. And I seem to recall a dance recital or two.”

“Oh, God,” Shepard replied, blushing a little. She had been somewhat of a ringleader amongst the children throughout her life on military ships. If there was a play or a magic show, or even dare she admit it – a dance recital, it had been little Janie Shepard that had coordinated it all. “Don’t remind me and don’t repeat that…ever.”

“Of course,” her mother complied, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “Although there are a few things that as a mother I reserve the right to remember. When the entire galaxy looks at you as their property, my few private memories become more and more important to me.”

“Fair enough.”

“Speaking of…I brought you something.”

Her mother took something out of her pocket and handed it to her. Shepard looked at it suspiciously before unfolding it. It was a classic sheet of white paper and as she unfolded it she recognized the word “HERO” written across it sideways in large, block letter, childish writing. Shepard let out a small breath of surprise as she let her fingers trace over the letters in dismay. On the bottom corner her name was scribbled in a way that she didn’t even think she could imitate any longer. God, how long had it been since she signed her name as "Janie" and topped the “i” off with a little open circle?

“How’d you get this?” She finally asked.

“I can’t take credit for it, actually,” her mother said softly.

Shepard looked up, waiting patiently for some further explanation.

“It was your father,” Hannah said, somewhat wistfully. “When you came home that day so upset and…angry. Well, he went directly to that teacher the next day and gave her a piece of his mind.”

Jane Shepard remembered the day very clearly. The class had been asked to write a career goal that they aspired to reach. She had been the first to raise her hand to signal that she was finished. When she stood up and shared her finished product with the class and the teacher she had been met with a frown and a long speech about how a hero was not a career and that she would have to be more specific. A doctor could be a hero, or a teacher or a policeman, anyone could be a hero, but you had to be something else, too. Shepard remembered flopping back down into the small desk and pouting, crossing her arms and refusing to write down anything different.

“I told her that she was wrong,” Shepard said, staring back down at the bold black letters. “That you were a hero first and that everything else was just a stupid title.”

“You remember,” Hannah said with a breathless sigh of relief.

Shepard looked up to her mother, something sadly occurring to her. “Did you bring this just to make sure it was me?” There was no accusing tone in her voice. Hell, she wouldn’t’ve expected any less and would’ve probably done similar herself.

“No,” Hannah replied. “Not originally. But on the way here I wondered…I worried about what I would do if you hadn’t recognized it.”

“Did any of the options involve your gun?” Shepard joked, also something that she would’ve done.

“No,” Hannah replied, not matching her daughter’s frivolity. Shepard flattened her smile and waited for her mother to continue. “I would’ve found it hard not to love even a clone of you.”

Jane swallowed. Shepard’s parents had both been military and they had never been overly sentimental, something that Shepard herself had no issues with. But she had been finding that her mother was going soft lately. In their last few meetings, their last chats, Hannah Shepard had been uncharacteristically … mushy. It hadn’t been anything that Shepard felt a need to call her on. She certainly couldn't voice any complaints about it now. It seemed the older she got, the less it bothered her as well.

“Well, I’m not a clone,” she replied. “Don’t think the thought hadn’t crossed even my mind, but I think I’m pretty convinced now that they brought me back somehow.” She shrugged. “If you want to know all the scientifics regarding it, you’ll have to talk to Miranda because I still really don’t know.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” her mother replied, smiling back at her.

Shepard looked back down at the sheet of paper in her hands. She had just wanted to be a hero. And even though now a lot of people described her that way, she didn’t feel like she was – not all the time. Not now, for sure.

“You are one, you know?” He mother said, as if reading into her thoughts. Shepard didn’t look up at her but let her continue to speak. “Even when you don’t think so. Even when you make the tough decisions. When you play the best hand in a lose-lose game like you did out there just recently. You’re still a hero. And I wanted you to have that, to keep that as a reminder of who you are every day.”

She looked up at her mother, tears stinging the backs of her eyes and applying pressure on the back of her throat. “Thank you,” she said.

The pair stood in silence for a long moment until Hannah Shepard cleared her throat and finally said, “So, I, uh, spoke to Officer Vakarian outside.”

“Garrus?” Shepard replied, surprised at the change of topic and working hard at feigning nonchalance. “Oh?”

Hannah Shepard crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at her daughter. “So, it’s…just as I had thought.”

“What?” Shepard replied looking down at the piece of paper in her hand and beginning to meticulously fold it as she tried to sound casual but knew that she was sounding way too defensive. She didn’t like the turn of this conversation, it made her way too uncomfortable. Her mother was better than Liara at sniffing this stuff out.

“A turian, Janie?” Hannah asked, not with judgment but with a certain amount of amusement. “You really don’t take the easy way out of anything, do you?”

“Pfft,” Shepard responded with an accompanying eye roll. “Like human men are so easy.”

“You’re right. You’re father was hell to train and then once I had him the way I wanted, he up and left me.”

“I don’t think you can really blame Dad for being shot down, can you? And besides, when you talk about him like that you make him sound like a dog.”

“They all need to be trained in one way or another, sweetheart. Make no mistake.”

“I’m not looking to train anyone.”

“Really?” Hannah stared at her daughter for a bit. “Then you might wanna clarify that with Mister Vakarian.”

“Garrus?” She said incredulously. “What? No! You met him like what? Five minutes? Turians are hard to read, believe me. Garrus just wants…a piece…of me. He isn’t looking to buy the whole cake.”

“So he hasn’t even had a slice?”

“No!” She replied vehemently. She had always been able to talk to her mother about everything, sometimes conversing with her as more of a friend than a parent. But for some reason talking about Garrus with her seemed uncomfortable, like crossing some invisible line. “And I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said. “Did you come here just to derail my lovelife?”

“Derail it?” Hannah replied and Shepard immediately regretted her words. “No. But I find it interesting that you do admit that it is on the rails.”

Shepard shrugged noncommittally. “We might’ve discussed…,” she said hesitatingly. “A mutually beneficial arrangement of some sort. C’mon, mom. You’ve been an officer in this man’s army for longer than I have. Sometimes you just need someone you can trust to…blow off some steam.”

“Yes, I do know,” Hannah replied knowingly. “And although that works for some, I was never that sort. However it might start, whatever pretenses we might give it, it always means a bit more. And I think you’re more like me than you care to admit sometimes. You could never enter into anything lightly. Just like that word on that sheet of paper.” Both women looked down at the paper still grasped in the younger Shepard’s hands. “You were always all or nothing, even then. Not a bad thing, dear. You just have to know your limits. I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“I won’t get hurt,” Jane whispered.

“Well, don’t get killed while you’re at it, either.”

Shepard looked back up to her mother. “Don’t worry, I already had the talk from the medical personnel here.”

“Um, no,” the older woman said, somewhat amused. “I was talking about the Collectors, and now the Batarians. Oh!” She said, seeming to really absorb the implications of what her daughter had just said. “No, please, god no. If sex is the thing that kills you this time, I’ll never get rid of the press corps!”


End file.
